Friday, April 25, 2014

Not many years ago, I began hearing people say, “The word separation isn’t in the First Amendment.” They would then go on to explain how they believed the concept of a separation of church and state is the work of the Devil to keep churches out of politics. Christians have been shooting themselves in the foot by defining Separation of Church & State as something it is not.

We see the words “separation between Church & State” in an 1802 letter. If you go back and read the letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the committee of the Danbury Baptist Association, you’ll see that it says more than just that the First Amendment builds “a wall of separation between Church & State.” He also makes the statement, “religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God.” Thomas Jefferson goes on to define the powers of government with the statement, “the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions.”

In Thomas Jefferson’s way of thinking, what a man believed was solely between the man and his God. The fear of the Danbury Baptist Association was that the First Amendment was creating a situation in which the Government was authorizing religion, but then could later take it away. They obviously didn’t realize how difficult it would be to repeal an amendment in the years to come. Thomas Jefferson’s use of the phase “wall of separation” was to give them a mental picture of what the First Amendment does.

One side of the wall is “make no law…prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Taken by itself, this gives religion free reign. If a child wants to pray, or carry a Bible, or offer incense to Buddha, this clause prevents the government from saying he can’t. The other side of the wall is “make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This is what prevents the government from giving special treatment to one religion over another and limits individual religious groups by preventing them from having special power within the government.

So, whether you like the phrase “wall of separation” or not, the First Amendment clearly builds a wall between the power of the State and the power of Church. The question remains, is that something that Christians should favor?

In practice, things get a little fuzzy. People talk about the good ol’ days when teachers used the Bible to teach reading and led the students in prayer before class started in the morning. I have no way of verifying that that kind of stuff happened, because that wasn’t going on when I was in school either. And then you have teachers telling students they can’t bring their Bibles to school, even though they asked students to bring their favorite books. “That’s what ‘separation of Church and State’ gets us,” some people say. The problem with basing on opinion on what we see happening or what we think used to happen is that those things may not be pure examples of separation of church and state.

What many people don’t realize is that Baptists have historically stood in support of the separation of church and state. In the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith (1833) it is worded like this:

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.

The Doctrinal Statement of the Baptist Missionary Association of America spells it out in more detail:

Human government was instituted by God to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. It is separate from the church, though both church and state exercise complementary ministries for the benefit of society (Matt. 22:21). Christians should submit to the authority of the government under which they live, obeying all laws which do not contradict the laws of God, respecting officers of government, paying taxes, rendering military service, and praying for the welfare of the nation and its leaders (Rom. 13:1-7; I Peter 2:13, 17; I Tim. 2:1, 2). They should vote, hold office, and exercise influence to direct the nation after the principles of Holy Scripture. Civil authority is not to interfere in matters of conscience or disturb the institutions of religion (Acts 4:18-20), but it should preserve for every citizen the free exercise of his religious convictions. Churches should receive no subsidy from the government, but they should be exempt from taxation on property and money used for the common good through worship, education, or benevolence.

It is a doctrine that has been forged through much persecution. There was a time in history when the Catholic Church (which was a product of the Roman government) held much power in the government, and they used that power to persecute those who opposed their beliefs. Many of the persecuted held the beliefs that we Baptists hold. In some parts of the world, Islam controls the government. While there are Christians living in those areas as well, it is difficult for them to practice their religion. When the wall of separation is weak, persecution comes.

Monday, April 14, 2014

An recent poll asked the question, “What a quality do you value most in a leader?” The possible answers were:

Builds effective relationships

Delivers results

Energizes the team

Models personal excellence, integrity and accountability

Shapes the future

The results (from least to greatest) were:

Shapes the future - 4%

Delivers results - 8%

Energizes the team - 14%

Builds effective relationships - 23%

Models personal excellence, integrity and accountability - 51%

What fascinates me about these results is that the things the leadership gurus push the most are the things that are the lowest on the list. But a majority view integrity as the most important. And building personal relationships also is significant.

That doesn’t mean we can say that the others aren’t important, but modeling personal excellence, integrity and accountability is just so important that most people favor it over all the others. Too often, we see leaders who want results, no matter what. Even if it costs them their integrity. Clearly, it is the opinion of those who took the poll that leaders like that have missed the boat.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

The book Heaven is for Real came out a few years ago. Now, there is a movie based on the book. I won’t be watching it. If you read the review of Heaven is for Real, you’ll see why. In brief, I saw nothing in the book that I couldn’t attribute to the imagination of a four year old, and too much that was inconsistent with what God said about heaven. I’ve seen the trailer for the movie, and even if I’d liked the book, I don’t think I could stand sitting through the movie.

But a lot of people have purchased the book and it is likely that a lot of people will watch the movie. In this age when so-called scientists are promoting the religion of evolution as proof that heaven isn’t real, people are looking for evidence of its existence. People are looking for the smoking gun that they can point to and say, “Look, we have proof that heaven exists.” That is why they turn to stories about people who have visited heaven and came back.

Haven’t you ever asked, “what if?” What if we could look up into heaven and see what’s there? What if someone who died could come back and tell us about it? What if we had something that could only come from God, so we could show it to people as proof of heaven?

I’ve heard people say things along the lines of “with spiritual things, God expects us to believe without proof.” That may sound spiritual, but the Bible doesn’t say that.

Suppose you heard the voice of God. Suppose you saw people who had gone to heaven and came back. Do you suppose that would be enough evidence for heaven? I think so. Other people might doubt that you had seen what you saw and heard, but it would likely settle it for you.

Peter had that experience. Look at 2 Peter 1:16-21. What is he saying here? Peter heard God speak. You recall that God spoke when Jesus was baptized. He also spoke on the mount of transfiguration. Peter was so excited about what he saw on the mount of transfiguration that he was ready to build tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. It was a significant experience in Peter’s life. But look at 2 Peter 1:19. “we also have a more sure word of prophecy.”

What could possibly be more sure than the experience Peter had on the mount of transfiguration? In 2 Peter 1:20, we see that it is the Scripture. That Bible that you carry to church with you and maybe pull out a few times during the week, under the inspiration of God, Peter is telling us that it is more sure than the experience he had on the holy mount.

We don’t have to talk to people who have returned from the dead. We don’t have to be able to look into heaven. We don’t have to hear the voice of God in our ear. We already have proof that is better than that. Though many people have tried to discredit it, the Bible is evidence of God and heaven. It is easy enough to make up a story about going to heaven and seeing stuff, as we see with Heaven is for Real, but that story can’t be verified without going to heaven. The Bible, on the other hand, is so astonishingly accurate in every detail that when we compare it to historical facts, scientific facts, and observations of about the human condition, we find no evidence that it is wrong in any area that we can confirm. If a book has never been proven wrong on any detail, then it is wise to pay attention when the author tells us about things we have no ability to verify.

To put it very simply, why would we trust the stories of a four year old over what God said in Scripture?

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About Me

I am the author of both novels and a non-fiction. Stop by my blog, Timothy’s Thoughts, where we mostly talk about plot elements, characters and other things to do with writing fiction, but occasionally get off on other topics, such as platform development and leadership. I even talk about current events or my personal life, from time to time, but mostly we talk about fiction.